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Overhead view of the new Cultural Living Room at the DIA - Photo by Marvin Shaouni
Overhead view of the new Cultural Living Room at the DIA - Photo by Marvin Shaouni | Show Photo

Detroit Development News

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Three bidders seek to bring X Games to town with Detroit-style DIY effort

You’ve heard all the claims of Detroit as the land of opportunity. You could, for example, wake up one day and decide you want to bring the X Games here. Which is pretty much what happened with Kevin Krease and his friends Ian Studders and Garret Koehler.
 
After hearing that ESPN’s X Games (which includes events like skateboarding, snowboarding, BMX, and Motocross) were expanding internationally, the three friends thought, "Wouldn’t it be cool to bring this to Detroit in the next round of expansions?" They had absolutely no event production experience, much less for an event of this scale. They started doing research. They started reaching out to people. They got connected to big local names like Phil Cooley (Ponyride, Slows), Jason Huvaere (President of Paxahau), and Susan Sherer (Executive Director of the Detroit Super Bowl XL Host Committee). Then they began approaching major stakeholders like Dan Gilbert, whose "Opportunity Detroit" campaign is epitomized in this grassroots effort.
 
Detroit has successfully hosted several major sporting events including the Super Bowl, the All-Star Game, and the Final Four. But those are all traveling events, a one-time influx of cash and bodies that are gone as quickly as they came. The X Games would be a three-year commitment.
 
"(Detroit is the) perfect marriage of what ESPN wants for the X Games," says Kevin Krease, Project Director of X Games Detroit. "What Detroit has here is this amazing grit and passion, that whole energy of the action sports scene." Detroit is a destination city for skaters all over the country. There are no competing events, plenty of major host venues already committed to it (including Ford Field, Hart Plaza, and Belle Isle), and a huge opportunity to further re-brand the city. Also, Ford is the largest global sponsor of the X Games. It just makes sense to bring it home.
 
ESPN representatives have already paid Detroit a visit and left with a positive impression, according to Krease. The formal bid is due April 2; the city selection will be announced Aug. 1.
 
Source: Kevin Krease, Project Director of X Games Detroit
Writer: Nicole Rupersburg

Got a Development News story to share? Email Nicole here.

Bikram Yoga Detroit to open this spring in Midtown

Detroit certainly seems to have a yoga jones of late. There’s a new sign up at 55 Canfield: Bikram Yoga Detroit will be opening on the ground floor of the 55 West Canfield Lofts this spring.
 
Sarah Weckerle is a certified Bikram Yoga instructor and is a partner in this new studio with her sister Sue Weckerle and Sue’s husband Paul Howard (the couple are also partners in Midtown’s Bronx Bar and Cliff Bell’s in Foxtown).
 
Bikram Yoga is the original hot yoga developed by Bikram Choudhury in the 1970s. It consists of a series of 26 postures that never change. "Any class you go to will be exactly the same," says Weckerle. The repetition and consistency also makes it easier to learn the postures and learn your own body. "You can see your improvement a little faster."
 
Weckerle has been practicing yoga since 2000 and attended a nine-week teacher training with Choudhury in 2004. She taught in California for four years before moving back to Michigan and attending Eastern Michigan University while teaching yoga in local studios in the western suburbs. "When I finished my graduate degree I realized I really did just want to keep teaching yoga." Because her sister and brother-in-law already had the business background and Midtown footing, the pieces all fit together for her to open her own studio.
 
Despite the recent surge of yoga studios and yoga pop-ups in Detroit, Bikram Yoga Detroit will be the first Bikram Yoga studio in the city. The room will be kept at 105 degrees with 35 percent humidity. They will offer a variety of packages, from drop-in class pricing to packages to blocks of time up to one year unlimited.
 
Construction has already started on the space, and they are hoping for a mid-April opening.
 
Source: Sarah Weckerle, co-owner of Bikram Yoga Detroit
Writer: Nicole Rupersburg

Got a Development News story to share? Email Nicole here.

GalaxE. Solutions donates technology and expertise to 14 mini police stations

GalaxE. Solutions, with stateside offices in Detroit and New Jersey and several more all over the world, is currently working with Mayor Dave Bing and the City of Detroit to provide technology to mini police stations in community centers throughout the city.
 
"One of the challenges Detroit faces is safety," says Tim Bryan, GalaxE. Solutions CEO. "People need to feel safe. The degree to which the city makes people feel safe is the barometer (by which we judge its resurgence)."
 
The city has been actively deploying "mini police stations" throughout the city at community centers, which the city already owns. "It gives citizens more opportunity to interact with police and have more access to them," says Bryan. But the community centers lacked the technology capacity and connectivity to connect these satellite stations to the police network, so the city contacted GalaxE. Solutions and asked if they could help make these mini police stations functional.
 
"We are a big advocate of public-private partnerships," says Bryan, "and certainly for public safety. When that opportunity presented itself we made the decision to donate hardware, software and our own expertise to deploy these mini police stations. This is part of GalaxE.'s ongoing commitment to help in any way we can to help Detroit turn around."
 
Citing "major players" like Dan Gilbert, who is helping change the city’s landscape for businesses interested in setting up shop here, Bryan says that "there is something going on in Detroit that is extremely unique and powerful. The interaction of public and private entities working together for the benefit of the city -- we think that’s an excellent way to cure some of the ills in Detroit and we’re extremely happy at GalaxE. to provide what we can."
 
There are currently six mini police stations already deployed with eight more remaining. GalaxE. will support all of them.
 
Source: Tim Bryan, GalaxE. Solutions CEO
Writer: Nicole Rupersburg

Got a Development News story to share? Email Nicole here.

An Office in Detroit will let you have your own office in Detroit

With all of the talk of various one- and two-person tech start-ups, social entrepreneurs, and all the other Detroit DIYers getting ink as far and wide as Forbes and the New York Times for the youth-driven independent entrepreneurial spirit currently thriving in Detroit, there is just a wee small problem that doesn’t get addressed. Many of these folks are just small enough to not need or want an office of their own, whether for financial reasons or issues of plain practicality. What that leaves is a whole lot of remote workers cramming into coffee shops and holing up in their homes for long stretches of the day, day after day after day.
 
And this is the very ailment that An Office in Detroit seeks to alleviate.
 
If you’re a freelancer or a mobile office worker, you may be seeking an alternative to coffee shop culture -- where you never know whether there’s going to be a seat, what the music or atmosphere will be like, or how much you have to keep spending so as not to overstay your welcome. You may also crave some of that human interaction and office camaraderie you gave up when you left the world of nine-to-fivers.
 
An Office in Detroit is designed to be a co-working space offering the office environment, social interaction, and networking opportunities that satellite workers too often miss out on.
 
"Maybe you’re not necessarily looking to incubate a business, but that doesn’t mean you don’t want to be around other like-minded people," says Hayley Roberts, Communications Director of Michigan Suburbs Alliance and spokesperson for An Office in Detroit.
 
Located in a 500-square-foot space in the Metropolitan Center for High Technology (2727 Second Ave., Suite 200, Detroit), An Office in Detroit will include all the essentials (WiFi, quiet and communal seating, and a printer, copier and scanner) with plans for eventual 24-hour access. Rates are low and flexible with a variety of membership levels ($5 for day passes, $30/month for regular weekly use, $100/month for unlimited access).
 
They plan to open March 1.
 
Source: Hayley Roberts, Communications Director of Michigan Suburbs Alliance and spokesperson for An Office in Detroit
Writer: Nicole Rupersburg

Got a Development News story to share? Email Nicole here.

Southwest Housing Solutions extends out to East Side with Mack-Alter Supportive Housing Development

Southwest Housing Solutions is currently extending its reach beyond Southwest Detroit into the northeast corner of the city. A new three-story construction development on the corner of Mack Avenue and Ashland near the border of Grosse Pointe Park is a partnership between Southwest Housing Solutions, the Warren/Conner Development Coalition (and its subsidiary LAND, Inc.), the Northeast Guidance Center, and the U-SNAP-BAC Community Development Corporation.
 
The $7.9 million, 40,000-square-foot Mack-Alter Supportive Housing Development will feature 39 subsidized supportive housing units as well as 6,000 square feet of commercial space on the ground floor. Funded by the federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, Southwest Housing Solutions is spearheading this project as the developer as they have the necessary real estate development experience.
 
"This is different for Southwest," says Tim Thorland, Executive Director of Southwest Housing Solutions. "Three groups from the East Side approached us (because they) don’t have the experience as real estate developers and asked (if we would help them) as co-owners. We’re really the project developer (and property manager)."
 
The Northeast Guidance Center will work with its clients to fill the 39 available housing units and the Warren/Conner Development Coalition will handle the commercial spaces. "This is really an example of the power of collaboration between nonprofits in the city," says Thorland. "We’re colleagues with common goals but also competitors (for resources). Here, we’re helping each other achieve what (we all want to do)."
 
This is not the first time Southwest Housing Solutions has partnered on a project outside of its usual neighborhood. They also served as the real estate developer of the Piquette Square project in New Center, which welcomed its first tenants in 2010.
 
Thorland says they expect this project to be completed early this summer, targeting for a full year after initially breaking ground in June 2012.
 
Source: Tim Thorland, Executive Director of Southwest Housing Solutions
Writer: Nicole Rupersburg

Got a Development News story to share? Email Nicole here.

Five years in the making, the Elizabeth Theatre takes a bow

When Jerry Belanger opened the Park Bar in December 2006, he didn’t even want to open a bar. As a theatre major and a passionate supporter of the performing arts, Belanger really wanted to open a theatre and performing arts space.
 
"It’s really why I bought the building," he says. "This is the fulfillment of a long-term dream."
 
The bar had to come before the theatre out of financial necessity. "I had to do everything that was income-oriented first, and a theatre isn’t income-oriented. It’s all expense-oriented."
 
Over the last six years, the Elizabeth Theatre, located upstairs from the Park Bar and Bucharest Grill, has been a slow work in progress.
 
"We started the renovation up there five years ago and slowly did concerts and shows," Belanger says. Since then they’ve built a stage as well as a full bar in the space, getting it in "good enough shape" to open. "It went from a really raw space (to a fully finished theatre)."
 
In addition to the bar and stage, they’ve now got theatre seat risers that seat 80, professional lighting, a sound booth, a lighting booth, and have just completed all of the major finishing touches to make the Elizabeth Theatre complete, though the labor of love isn’t quite yet complete. "Over the next year we will be doing a lot of detail work."
 
The Park Bar was also closed for a few days last week for some minor renovations of its own, which included refinishing the floor and reupholstering the furniture.
 
The Elizabeth Theatre is open every Friday and Saturday and hosts a variety of events, from concerts to stand-up comedy to film screenings. "We reserve the space for local performing arts. We don’t book anything that tours. These are all Detroit-centric performing events."
 
Last year, the inaugural Detroit Shakespeare Festival debuted at the Elizabeth, and this year they’re bringing it back starting March 14 and running through the end of April with Measure for Measure.
 
Source: Jerry Belanger, owner of the Park Bar and Elizabeth Theatre
Writer: Nicole Rupersburg

Got a Development News story to share? Email Nicole here.

Grand River Station Castle Lofts will be mixed use commercial and residential space

The Grand River Station in Woodbriidge, built in 1901 and formerly used as a police station, boys' home and bomb squad headquarters at different points in time, will now be the home of the Castle Lofts, a new mixed-use commercial and residential property operated by the Detroit Legacy Group.
 
According to Brittany Washington, co-founder of the Detroit Legacy Group, renovations have more or less ongoing for the past 20 years. They are now putting on the finishing touches and readying the property for future residents.
 
The first floor will be dedicated to commercial space for small "virtual" corporations and start-up companies. The companies will share common areas including a conference area, office center (with copy and fax machines), restrooms, a common entrance, and a reception area that services them all.
 
The remaining floors will be the Castle Lofts, which range from one to four bedrooms and can be one, two, or three levels (multi-level units feature spiral staircases).
 
"There are 15 units and all are different models with no set floorplan," says Washington. Units feature a variety of features including Jacuzzi tubs (in some), hardwood floors, exposed brick walls, stainless steel GE appliances, recessed lighting, and a heated parking garage (for an additional cost).
 
Renovations on the rental units are almost complete and tours to prospective renters start this week. They hope to start moving people in by mid-March.
 
The Detroit Legacy Group, a youth-oriented development group, took control of the property in January and hope to use this property to serve their mission to "provide luxury housing, entertainment (options), and business (opportunities) in the heart of the Creative Corridor" in the Midtown and Woodbridge neighborhoods.
 
Source: Brittany Washington, Co-Founder of Detroit Legacy Group
Writer: Nicole Rupersburg

Got a Development News story to share? Email Nicole here.

Avalon's new production bakery set to open, will relocate flagship location this summer

The Avalon International Breads long-awaited expansion -- which has been in the works at various stages since 2008 -- is finally coming to fruition.
 
The nearly 50,000-square-foot Avalon City Ovens production bake house located in an old warehouse at 4731 Bellevue on Detroit’s East Side is celebrating its grand opening this Friday, Feb. 22 with an opening party with food, music, and tours of the facility. This event is free and open to the public.
 
This production facility will enable the popular bakery to expand its wholesale business so it can offer more products to more markets. In particular, Avalon owners will be expanding their offerings at Plum Market, which itself is expanding into Chicago, as well as at the national retailer Whole Foods, which is (as you may have heard) expanding into Midtown.
 
The expansion efforts go beyond the new wholesale production facility. Avalon International Breads will be vacating its longtime location at 422 West Willis and will open a much larger retail store with its own full bakery in-house at 441 West Canfield in Midtown. The new retail location will have 45 seats (compared to the current location's 15) and will feature an expanded list of menu offerings (including homemade soups) with extended hours and, eventually, a drive-through.
 
"Hopefully, we’ll be known as the place for breakfast in Midtown," says Ann Perrault, co-owner of Avalon. She also acknowledges the current location’s reputation as the number one place in Midtown to get a parking ticket and the overall difficulty of finding a parking space nearby, and of finding a place to sit inside once you finally park. "We’re hoping all of that will be easier (at the new location)."
 
This will enable them to also expand menu offerings at the café inside of the Henry Ford Hospital.
 
The bake house will be fully operational in March and they hope to be fully moved into the new Canfield retail location by the end of summer.
 
Source: Ann Perrault, co-owner of Avalon International Breads
Writer: Nicole Rupersburg

Got a Development News story to share? Email Nicole here.

Midtown addresses ongoing lighting issue with community partnerships and creative funding strategies

Safe street lighting has been an ongoing focus for Midtown Detroit, Inc. since 2004. With a lack of funding available from the city to repair and replace the streetlights, Sue Mosey, President of Midtown Detroit, Inc., has been creative in her efforts to address and improve the serious situation.
 
"There’s a variety of things we have been doing given the fact that there’s no dollars for repairing and putting in new lighting," she says. "We do lots around lighting but the need is far greater than our current funding." They’ve already been working on this problem for nearly a decade. "It’s a slow process. Literally every street light needs to be handled."
 
Since 2004, Midtown has put in all new lighting on Woodward as part of the Woodward Streetscape Project. They’ve put up LED pedestrian lights along the Midtown Loop Greenway. With the recent conversion of Third Avenue to a two-way street with bike lanes they also put up all new LED streetlights in conjunction with the city.
 
New lighting was just installed on West Canfield between Woodward and Cass and the I-94/Trumbull bridge as part of the Greenway. They also just got a grant in conjunction with Next Energy to do a pilot of LED street lighting (relamping existing poles) on Warren between Cass and John R.
 
They have a blanket contract with Motor City Electric to repair streets where the lights have been completely broken -- next up is Seward, Virginia Park, and historic West Canfield. "We are at least having them make repairs on critical streets where we think safety is an issue in the interim."
 
Upcoming projects include installing new streetlights and LED pedestrian lights on Cass between Canfield and I-94 in 2014 and a partnership with Eastern Market, the Community Health Development Project, and the city to add new LED pedestrian lighting all through Brush Park and into Eastern Market.

They are focused on LED, which is more expensive initially but much more cost-effective long-term. Because the problem is ultimately in the lighting infrastructure itself, temporary troubleshooting is not a preferable solution. "It goes way beyond the poles." The whole system needs to be overhauled and rebuilt, which is where money from foundations, matching grants from the state, and working with many community partners comes in. "It's a group effort," Mosey says. 
 
"So far we’re just coming up with different strategies to improve the situation. This is still one of our very top, close to number one, challenges -- trying to get the lighting correct."
 
While a new public lighting authority will be appointed within weeks (even days), Mosey is unsure how they plan to attack priority areas and says Midtown will continue to move forward with its particular projects. 

Source: Sue Mosey, Midtown Detroit, Inc. President
Writer: Nicole Rupersburg

Got a Development News story to share? Email Nicole here.

Drive: Table Tennis Social Club is a whole new kind of social hub for Detroit

We certainly aren't lacking for more "traditional" social clubs – i.e., bars – in the city of Detroit, but Drive is a whole new kind of social hub.
 
Drive: Table Tennis Social Club is a ping-pong palace, recently opened on the ground floor level of the Lofts at Merchants Row on Woodward Avenue in the space formerly occupied by City Loft, the pop-up retail space operated by the Somerset Collection.
 
Owner Diallo Smith has lived in cities all over the country but moved back home to Detroit with his wife Jameel in 2008. "Part of that was hearing about some of the exciting things happening in Detroit, the resurgence and renaissance," he says. "We felt like it was a great time for us to move back and be a part of that in some way."
 
Drive was born out of their desire to be entrepreneurs and contribute to the growing number of lively, unique businesses that will ultimately be the backbone of a new Detroit. They chose table tennis because of its world-wide popularity and its familiarity on an everyday level. "Everybody has played (ping-pong) in a basement growing up, or at a friend’s house in the summer."
 
It was also something Detroit didn’t already have.
 
The 4,000-square-foot space is designed to have an upscale look, and they are currently working on obtaining a liquor license and plan on carrying international beers and wines you don’t see in every bar in keeping with the international nature of the sport and their upscale environment. They will also introduce a small food menu of "funky" sandwiches and melts once they start serving beer, wine and cocktails.
 
Drive is currently open 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday but will extend their hours once their liquor license is approved, which they hope will happen this spring.
 
Souce: Diallo Smith, owner of Drive: Table Tennis Social Club
Writer: Nicole Rupersburg

Have a Development News story to share? Send Nicole an email here.

Hatch Detroit 2012 finalist Rock City Pies will open restaurant in Hamtramck this summer

Following in the footsteps of fellow 2012 Hatch Detroit finalists Detroit Vegan Soul and winner La Feria, Rock City Pies will become a brick-and-mortar reality later this year.
 
Rock City Pies owner Nikita Santches has formally signed a three-year lease for the space that was formerly home to Maria's Comida in Hamtramck. Maria’s, which closed late last year, is moving into a new facility around the corner on Caniff to focus on production of their Maria’s House Made Salsa label.
 
Because the space was previously a restaurant, Santches has very little work to do on the interior but plans on making the bathrooms more accessible and aesthetically revamping the dining room area with new floors, booths, and other updated design details. Construction will begin immediately upon floor plan approval from the city, which he and his father will do themselves.
 
Through the course of the Hatch competition Santches didn't think Rock City Pies would end up in Hamtramck. He remembers Hatch Executive Director Vittoria Katanski asking him if he would ever consider the city-within-the-city and he dismissed it quickly, but after being introduced to Jason Friedmann, Hamtramck's Director of Community and Economic Development, and learning more about the city first-hand he felt an immediate connection to it.
 
One of the most appealing aspects of Hamtramck for Santches was the cultural and ethnic diversity of the neighborhood. As a Russian immigrant himself, he felt an immediate connection to the many Eastern European immigrants who live and own businesses in Hamtramck. "That aspect of it is very appealing to me," he says. "I'm surrounded by people who grew up eating the same kind of food I ate and living the lifestyle that I lived. People around me have the same mentality and view on things."
 
He hopes to be open by this summer. He will also start wholesaling Rock City Pies to local markets once situated in the new space.
 
Source: Nikita Santches, owner of Rock City Pies
Writer: Nicole Rupersburg

Have a Development News story to share? Send Nicole an email here.

Historic steel water tower finds new home at the El Moore thanks to Green Garage

Did you happen to see that massive steel water tower tooling down Cass Avenue with police escorts last Thursday?
 
The water tower came from the top of the Dalgleish Cadillac building (built in 1927), which is part of a $93 million construction project for Wayne State University, the largest single investment in a project in WSU’s history (the building is part of a 200,000-square-foot biomedical research center).
 
Plans for the research center did not include the water tower, though several groups had interest and made serious efforts at trying to save it. "There are groups that want to think outside the box and think more sustainably about moving forward," says Green Garage representative Jason Peet. "Projects like this show that that can be done even with an institution as large as (WSU)."
 
Interested groups included U-Haul International (who are currently renovating the Nabisco building in New Center), Midtown Detroit Inc., and Wayne State University. Initially the desire was to keep this iconic piece of the neighborhood in Tech Town, but as all other attempts fell through, Midtown’s Green Garage was contacted in the last three weeks as a last shot for the old tower.
 
They had to partially disassemble the 25,000-pound solid steel structure to take it down and move it to the site of the El Moore, a four-story apartment building in Midtown constructed in 1898 and owned by Tom and Peggy Brennan of the Green Garage. Though they do plan on renovating the building, which will be a sort of "residential version of the Green Garage" where "sustainability will be highly important," formal plans and an official timeline are not yet known.
 
The old water tower now anchors a corner that was formerly an empty field and will be an architectural part of a planned greenspace that ties in with the Green Garage’s efforts of repurposing materials that would otherwise end up in a landfill and preserving pieces of the neighborhood and the history behind them.
 
Source: Jason Peet, Green Garage Detroit
Writer: Nicole Rupersburg

Have a Development News story to share? Send Nicole an email here.

Whole Foods in Midtown on-track for summer opening, hosting local vendor fair and job info sessions

If you've driven by the corner of Woodward and Mack recently, you've seen the speedy progress the new Whole Foods Market in Midtown has been making. The walls are up, the concrete floor is poured, and right now they’re totally on-target to open at the end of May or beginning of June.
 
"We’ve been fortunate that we’ve had no major construction setbacks," says Whole Foods Market Community Liaison Amanda Musilli.
 
To prepare for opening, Whole Foods will host a local vendor fair on Feb. 28. There is an application online for local food artisans to complete by Sunday, Feb. 17. If their products meet the market’s quality standards, Whole Foods will then set up a one-on-one with their regional buyers. "It's exciting for someone who is looking to grow their business and get their products in a retail setting." This vendor fair is by invitation only, so applications must be received by the deadline in order to be eligible.
 
"This is kind of a unique thing that we’re starting to do for all of our new stores that we’re opening," says Musilli. "We found this is a great way to get new products in right away instead of opening first and then looking for (local vendors)."
 
This week the Midtown location also kicks off employment information sessions. On Feb. 13 and 15, Whole Foods will host its first series of information sessions regarding employment at Whole Foods in partnership with various community organizations (listed below). Jobs will be posted online starting April 2.
 
Wednesday, Feb. 13
10 a.m. to 12 p.m. – U-SNAP-BAC
5 p.m. to 7 p.m. – Focus: HOPE
 
Friday, Feb. 15
10 a.m. to 12 p.m. – Mexicantown Mercado at 2835 Bagley
3 p.m. to 5 p.m. – SER Metro Detroit
 
Source: Amanda Musilli, Community Liaison for Whole Foods Market
Writer: Nicole Rupersburg

Have a Development News story to share? Send Nicole an email here.

Partners open La Hookah Town and Grace of India Restaurant in Midtown

It wasn’t that long ago that Thistle Coffeehouse was flourishing on Second Ave. at Prentis. But now the space has been reborn with two brand-new businesses owned by partners Sal Sufyan and Abe Aswadi.
 
The first, La Hookah Town, officially opened in January. La Hookah Town offers an inexpensive "hangout spot" for Wayne State students with a variety of flavored tobaccos, free WiFi, free parking, a student study area, and televisions for watching sports (including pay-per-view boxing). It opens at noon daily and stays open until 2 a.m. or later.
 
While there are a number of hookah lounges in Dearborn and Dearborn Heights and a quietly growing hookah culture in Royal Oak, the city of Detroit previously had no hookah lounges of its own. Hookah lounges are increasingly popular study spots for students and social hubs for young adults under the age of 21 who can’t just go to a bar. They also appeal to the large population of Muslim students and young adults in the area who do not patronize liquor bars.
 
In addition to bringing a hookah lounge to the city, the partners are also bringing an Indian restaurant to an area that currently has none. They are opening Grace of India Restaurant next to La Hookah Town, a small restaurant that will serve authentic, affordable Indian cuisine for carry-out and delivery, specifically targeting students. They will have only three or four tables inside where people can wait for their carry-out orders.
 
Sufyan says that they noticed a need for Indian food in the area and are catering to that demand. They have hired a chef who specializes in Indian cuisine to oversee the kitchen. The interior has been totally remodeled and they hope to be open this month.
 
Source: Sal Sufyan, co-owner, La Hookah Town and Grace of India Restaurant
Writer: Nicole Rupersburg

Have a Development News story to share? Send Nicole an email here.

David Whitney Building secures final $8.5 million in funding, will begin construction immediately

A recent $8.5 million investment by the State of Michigan in the David Whitney Building has made headlines recently. This money finally enables the Whitney Partners, LLC to move forward with construction.
 
The Whitney Partners are the Roxbury Group, the Detroit-based real estate development and consulting firm that is heading up this renovation project and most recently completed the Auburn, a new construction project in Midtown, and Troy-based investment firm Trans Inn Management Inc.
 
"The $8.5 million is coming as a loan being lent to us through the Michigan Community Revitalization Program," says David Di Rita, owner of the Roxbury Group. "It is enormously important. It closed the remaining funding gap between all of the other credits and incentives."
 
So far the project has received $9.8 million in a state brownfield redevelopment tax credit and $12.4 million in state historic tax credits. "We still had about $8.5 million to bring to the deal to get financing closed and that’s what this will do. It was the final piece."
 
At press time the Whitney Partners were working to close on overall financing for the project. Construction will start immediately once the funding is in place.
 
"We won’t be announcing when we close the financing deal," Di Rita says. "We will just start construction and that’s how people will know."

So keep an eye out for those construction cranes.
 
The David Whitney Building has sat empty since 2000. The Roxbury Group bought the building in 2011 for $3.3 million. The renovation will create 105 residential apartments, a 136-room Aloft Hotel (a Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide property), a new and improved People Mover station, and ground floor retail.
 
"We’re very proud of the fact of being able to (secure funding) within 24 months of getting the building," says Di Rita.
 
They are targeting early 2014 for full completion of the project, which is expected to cost $82.5 million and create 75 jobs.
 
Source: David Di Rita, Owner, The Roxbury Group
Writer: Nicole Rupersburg

Have a Development News story to share? Send Nicole an email here.
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